


A Song and A Dance

by kaikim



Series: Veni, Vidi, Amavi [3]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 13:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17101463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaikim/pseuds/kaikim
Summary: A quiet shepherd loves dancing for his sheep, and one day he finds someone to sing along to his performance.





	A Song and A Dance

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read as a stand alone ficlet, but is a part of a larger collection I'm building about vampire!Chanyeol and his reincarnating soulmate. I'm not tagging this fic with any of that since neither vamprisim nor reincarnation have any heavy themes here, but this is one of their lives together. Hope you enjoy!

Jongin spun and spun and spun, tunic flying, whipping his gaze around so he wouldn’t get dizzy. He stopped suddenly, posed, and then leapt into the air with a flourish before bowing, his dance finished. He looked up at his audience to see what they thought of the performance.

“Baaaah.” His sheep stared without judgment, used to his energy and exuberance. Jongin laughed in response, bent down to pick up his shepherd’s crook, and then milled about his flock.

“Alright, Basil, I understand. No more dancing for now, yeah? Hey, hey Sal, girl, come back here. Don’t wander so far. Saffron, move, Cris you too.”

Jongin spoke kindly to his sheep, gathering them all together before he started the walk back down to his hut and fenced in pasture on the edge of town. The sheep responded to his voice and ambled along easily, like they always did, giving him space to wander in his thoughts a bit. He wished he had real songs to dance to besides the half-finished melody he like to hum in his head. Bards were rare in these parts though, because no one had gold to pay them. The town existed mostly on a barter system. The drinking songs in the tavern weren’t right for his dancing and he didn’t like alcohol, so he didn’t usually go. 

This night was no different in that respect, and after tending to his sheep and then tending to his own dinner, Jongin fell into an early sleep.

The next day held the same routine, and the next, and the next, and then one night as he finished locking his sheep away Jongin felt compelled to hum his song aloud. And then he was singing and dancing for himself, the melody full and bright and complete. When he finished he was out of breath, unsure where that had come from. He shrugged it off, tired, and went inside and straight to sleep.

Jongin woke up the next morning and went in to town to see about trading some of the wood work he’d done for more food (it wasn’t shearing season yet, so he had no wool to barter). He was arguing good naturedly about how many ears of corn a specific carving was worth when a tall handsome stranger walked into the town square. Everyone watched out of the corner of their eyes as this bright man walked straight up to the inn and inquired after work. It was common knowledge that the innkeeper had no children to assist him so no one was surprised when accepted readily enough, sweeping the beaming handsome man inside. As soon as he was out of sight sound returned to the square.

_Who was that?!_

_Never seen him before._

_…looked like an elf!_

_D’ya suppose he’s got a touch of the magic?_

_I’d let him show me some of his magic._

_Behave!_

Jongin haggled for produce a little bit longer and more insistently than he normally did, hoping to see him again. Fortunately, his neighbor seemed to be of the same mindset, and did not take offense when he rejected her fourth and fifth offers.

+

Jongin visited town more often after the stranger’s arrival. His name spread through the town like wildfire- _Chanyeol_ \- and the entire village spent hours making up excuses to visit the inn where Chanyeol greeted them all warmly, with a smile like the sun and a low voice like molten honey. The entire village, that was, except Jongin.

It was only after three weeks of Jongin’s shy furtive glances and Chanyeol’s knowing grins that Jongin finally ran into him mucking out the inn’s stables, and that only occurred because Jongin cut behind the inn to get home after visiting the blacksmith in hopes of not seeing him up close in the square. Chanyeol was shirtless as he worked, cleaning out the stables and rearranging hay with a large pitchfork. He was also humming a melody that seemed to fit perfectly with the vocal lines of the song Jongin had carried in his heart for years, and the unassuming shepherd found himself singing along before he realized he was. 

He nearly faltered, apologies ready to spring off of his tongue for intruding, but Chanyeol’s eyes were inviting and playful as he raised his volume to match Jongin’s. Jongin could only grin with excitement as he twisted to himself, dancing in the limited space as they sang.

“I’m Chanyeol. What’s your name?” Chanyeol had long paused his work to enjoy Jongin impromptu performance. The easy way he leaned against the pitchfork in his hands belied the quickness with which he inquired after the soft-spoken man before he could slip away.

“Oh… it’s Jongin.”

“I see you around pretty often, but you never stay long enough to talk.”

Jongin blushed at that. “I’m usually out with my sheep, in the hills, and if I’m not then I’m probably rushing back to them.”

Chanyeol hummed his understanding.

“Well then, Jongin, I imagine you better hurry back. And maybe one day, I can come up and see how you dance when you have the space to, up in the hills.”

Chanyeol was peering at him intently. Jongin bit his lower lip hard and very carefully did NOT respond _as long as you keep looking at me like that and calling my name with that tone you can come wherever you want and see whatever you want whenever you like_. He tried to tell Chanyeol that he didn’t mind, but when he opened his mouth a small whimper slipped out. Jongin flipped the quiet noise into a yawn and then pressed his lips together. Still not sure he was in control of his tongue, he nodded emphatically and ignored the blush he knew was sliding across the bridge of his nose to stain the apples of his cheeks.

Chanyeol put Jongin out of his embarrassment with an easy smile and “alright, see you later then” that had Jongin bolting away from the inn. He watched him run away in amazement, the words _impatient minx_ reverberating in his skull as he looked at the man disappearing quickly into the horizon. He was deliciously shy in this life, and he was still Jongin. It felt good to know that his love still longed for him.

+

A year went by; the innkeeper took on two more apprentices and Chanyeol moved out of the inn and into the hills with Jongin to sing while Jongin danced. If Jongin found it odd that Chanyeol never seemed to age or that the townspeople slowly stop asking after him as if they’d all forgotten that the man with the molten honey voice existed, he never said. He lived happily, kissing Chanyeol and dancing around his sheep until he fell asleep. Sometimes, when the moon was bright enough, he dreamed of Chanyeol draped in silks dressed in finery, like some far away prince. Every morning, regardless of the phase of the moon the night before, he awoke in Chanyeol’s arms and that was enough for him.


End file.
